Computer migration and MOTU legacy equipment

[crduval]

Hi folks.

TL;DR Does MOTU intend to update drivers for the Ultralite Mk3 and/or Micro Express to work with Monterey, or is there some other work-around?

The story:
Until recently, I have been running Mojave on a 4,1 Mac Pro (spoofed to 5,1), and needed to upgrade to Big Sur due to an incompatibility with a plug-in update. I tried to use OpenCore Legacy patcher to install Big Sur, scrupulously (I thought) followed the instructions and, well, I don't know what I did wrong, but I believe I have royally corrupted the boot ROM on my trusty old Mac. Even booting from an old boot drive with High Sierra, the computer randomly crashes, if it boots at all (it often dies during boot now, even if I try to boot into safe mode). Once in a great while it does come up and seems to work, but this is not a situation that I can live with, and I don't know enough to fix this old Mac.

Fair enough, I was running up against some processing limitations anyway and was having to work around them, so I'm going to upgrade my computer. I'd like to get one of the new Studios, but I have a 2019 MacBook Pro that MAY work (only 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD). So before investing in the Studio, I thought I'd test it out.

The MacBook Pro does run old DP projects that have been converted into the audio realm for mixing without breaking a sweat. Now I'd like to test doing a full project from scratch with all my VIs and some live recording. The problem is, I have old MOTU hardware (Ultralite Mk3, Micro Express). Neither of these units' drivers from MOTU are compatible with my MacBook Pro running Monterey, so I can't do a typical project from scratch to see if this laptop is really a potential technical and money-saving solution.

Does anyone know if there is a workaround for the driver incompatibility? I can live without the micro express driver for test purposes, but I need a working audio interface. Or do I need to add a new Ultralite mk5 to my shopping list?

Any help or advice appreciated - thanks!

Chris

[crduval]

I should add that I already ordered enclosures for my SSDs and PCIe cards that I will need - that 128GB hard drive in the MacBook Pro won't cut it.

[HCMarkus]

Hopefully Mike will chime in here. Good luck getting everything running smoothly!

[mikehalloran]

The correct drivers do exist but MOTU no longer supports old units so you have to know what current units use te same drivers —this tells you where to look. For the UltraLite mk3, look under UltraLite mk3 Hybrid, then click on VIEW ALL DOWNLOADS to find the driver for your MacOS if not Monterey.

For the current MIDI drivers. Look under Micro Express (USB). Click on VIEW ALL DOWNLOADS to find the driver for your MacOS if not Monterey or Big Sur.

Ignore any Firmware updates you see if not applicable yo your particular device.

[crduval]

Thank you, Mike, I appreciate the reply. The install read.me says that the Monterey Ultralite mk3 Hybrid driver does not support firewire only units, but its worth a try!

[crduval]

Just to close out the topic, the MIDI express USB driver did work with my old micro express, but the Ultralite Mk3 Hybrid driver did not work with my firewire mk3. I ordered an Ultralite mk5, I'm sure it will be a nice additional upgrade.